SYRIAN DEFECTORS PHOTOS COULD TRIGGER WAR-CRIMES CHARGES: The Obama administration is fashioning a new strategy to prosecute Syrian war crimes based on a trove of photos smuggled out of the country by the defector code-named Caesar, U.S. officials said. Because Russia, the primary patron of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has blocked an international prosecution, the U.S. and its allies are focusing on possible crimes where individual countries already have jurisdiction—those involving their own nationals or dual citizens who may have been victims or perpetrators in Syria. The 50,000 photographs that catalog Syria’s grim civil war make that possible because many of the victims can be named, officials said.

Reuters

Caesar, a former Syrian military-police photographer, testified Thursday before a House committee about his job documenting thousands of corpses at a Damascus hospital, many of which were mutilated or showed other signs of torture. The images are being analyzed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other Western law-enforcement agencies, which believe they are authentic. Jess Bravin and Michael R. Crittenden report.

CIA IMPROPERLY ACCESSED SENATE COMPUTERS: Central Intelligence Agency officers snooped on computers used by a Senate committee investigating the CIA’s interrogation program, an internal agency report has concluded. That finding is a critical one in the bitter standoff that continues between the two government branches. CIA Director John Brennan apologized to key senators briefed on the report. The finding bolsters allegations by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), who has denounced what she describes as a CIA search of Senate computers that may have violated the Constitution. Siobhan Gorman reports.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

GOP LEADERS TO REGROUP ON BORDER BILL: Deep divisions among House Republicans over immigration forced their leaders to pull from the floor yesterday a bill dealing with the surge of young illegal immigrants on the Southern border. The sudden canceling of the vote on the $659 million border bill was an embarrassment to the new members of House GOP leadership set to assume their roles Friday. Delaying the start of their five-week August recess for a day, House Republicans planned to meet Friday morning to attempt to find modest changes that could help secure majority support for the bill. Kristina Peterson and Michael R. Crittenden report.

CALIFORNIA SEES RISING PREMIUMS: Premiums for health-law plans in California will go up 4.2% on average next year, an increase that the state’s insurance marketplace said was limited partly due to the large and relatively healthy pool of enrollees it had attracted. Nationally, 2015 rate changes for plans sold through marketplaces created under the health law will vary widely. But California is seen as a bellwether, since the state has about 1.4 million of the 8 million total people who enrolled, according to federal statistics released May 1. Anna Wilde Mathews reports.

–JOBS DAY:July jobs numbers will offer the first big hint on the strength of the economy in the second quarter after Thursday’s report showed second-quarter GDP grew by a robust 4%. Here’s what to watch for.

–AFRICAN LEADERS SUMMIT:African leaders begin to arrive in Washington for next week’s African Leaders Summit. On Friday morning, the White House hosts an event on “Faith Works: Honoring the Contributions of the Faith Community to Peace and Prosperity in Africa,” in D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

WHAT WE’RE READING AROUND THE WEBBritain’s Independent newspaper reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin are secretly negotiating a deal to end the conflict in Ukraine under which Russia would end support for Russian separatists and provide Ukraine a reliable supply of gas, and in return get acknowledgement of its annexation of Ukraine and assurances Ukraine won’t join NATO.

Libya’s problems haven’t gotten much attention amid crises elsewhere, but Hisham Matar of The New Yorker writes that the country is “staring at the abyss of civil war.” The government has essentially collapsed, militias are roaming and “Libyans are bewildered and shocked by the violence that has been unleashed.”

The New Republic’s Danny Vinik writes that Sen. Ted Cruz‘s efforts to sabotage a House bill addressing the problem of Central American immigrants at the border shows that if he runs for president, he “will continue to position himself as the most conservative candidate, especially on immigration,” pulling other candidates to the right and “reinforcing the perception that the Republican Party is hostile to Hispanics.”

Here’s another race to watch:Just days before a primary election, a new Civil Beat poll shows Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie trailing state Sen. David Ige by double digits in the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

In WSJ’s Think Tank, Linda Killian writes that evidence available so far doesn’t support the argument that switching to “top two” primaries–in which the two leading vote-getters advance to a general election regardless of party—will produce more centrist candidates and increase voter turnout.

FEEDBACK: Welcome to the new Capital Journal Daybreak newsletter, the Journal’s morning rundown of the biggest news stories and exclusive features from Washington on politics, policy, financial regulation, defense and more. Send your tips, feedback and suggestions for recommended reading to editor Kate Milani at kate.milani@wsj.com.

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.